All Good Things Ep 13: Evolution
by Jurnee Jakes
Summary: A trip to Africa for Team Possible leads Rufus on an epic journey to save his people from the likes of Chester Yapsby.
1. Prologue

**Three Years Ago, East Africa**

Chester Yapsby stepped out of a jeep in the middle of an African prairie, the hot sun beating down on him. He adjusted his wide brimmed hat to shade his eyes, then took a long drink from the canteen that he had stashed in his jeep.

A cage rattled in the passenger side of the open top vehicle and he lifted the blanket that had been covering it. Inside the metal cage was a two foot long cockroach that reached out to swipe at Chester's hand with a massive claw.

"Hey!" Chester shouted, scolding the insect and picking up one of the two softball sized metal spheres that sat between the front seats. The cockroach backed away reluctantly, as though regretful. Chester grinned, cocking his head to the side. He took a small mp3 recorder from his shirt pocket, activated it, and spoke. "Specimen zero zero eight has grown to over ten times it's size with no discernible ill effects. If only my old lab partner could see this, maybe he would understand what I'm trying to do. But no, Icari had his chance. Now I hear he's working on turning insects into snack foods, the fool!"

Holding up one of the metal orbs, he continued. "The Roflax I built from Icari's design is a perfect replica of the prototype, which I'll be hiding here in the African savanna, just in case the replica is destroyed or lost." He looked at the oversized cockroach again, it's large bulbous eyes looking back at him with an eerie understanding. "As a strange side effect, Specimen zero zero eight also seemed to be growing in intellect as well as size. So long as I hold the Roflax though, it's will is mine!" he giggled, replacing the cover on the cage.

He turned off the recorder and grabbed a shovel from the back seat, as well as the prototype Roflax and walked a few feet away from the jeep. He plunged the end of the shovel into the dried out dirt, then looked around as several tiny pink, wrinkled heads popped out of burrows that were scattered around the area. "Get lost, sand puppies!" Chester yowled and the naked mole rats shrank away, their beady black eyes the only things showing against the dusty backdrop.

Chester continued to dig a shallow hole, and placed the prototype Roflax in. He surveyed the expansive environment to make certain no one was watching, then filled in the hole with the loose dirt he had pulled out. After a few moments, he climbed back into his jeep and drove away, content that the device would still be there for when he could return.

Little did he know however, that the prototype Roflax had activated as he was burying it, sending out pulses of low level radiation into the surrounding naked mole rat burrows.


	2. Chapter One

**Present Day; Kenya**

Kim could only faintly hear the sound of the wedding march as the door into the cathedral opened for her. She barely even noticed that her father stood beside her with his arm hooked around hers. All she could see was Ron Stoppable wearing a finely pressed tuxedo, his glasses, and his hair done by none other than Francois himself. He stood on the stage with Wade, Felix, and Josh next to him and Monique, Joss, and Tara standing across from him in beautiful purple dresses. The crowd to either side seemed unending with her extended family and the friends she had acquired on one side and Ron's extended family and the Yamanouchi students on the other.

She began to walk, her father guiding her straight as her vision began to blur with tears of joy. The moments passed and she found herself face to face with her long time best friend and now nearly husband. She could tell he was trying to keep a straight face, despite the nervous giggles that showed in his brown eyes.

"We are gathered here today..." began the preacher.

"Ron..." she whispered. "I want you to know that I'm always going to be there for you. No matter what."

"To unite Ronald Tobbias Stoppable..."

Ron smiled. "I know, KP."

"... and Kimberly Anne Possible in Holy matrimony."

"But there's some things you just can't change..." Ron continued, his face turning white. Kim gasped as a red spot appeared on his tuxedo in the center of his chest.

"Ron!" Kim cried, snapping awake.

"Wah!" Ron shouted from beside her, surprised by her sudden outburst and spilling his apple juice over himself. "Kim!" he whispered harshly, trying to wipe off the sticky juice from his Wade modified glasses and his mission gear.

Kim shook her head, trying to get her bearings. They were on a private jet flying across Africa, on their way to the I & M Bank that apparently had all of their precious metals stolen in a rather peculiar way. The sun was just beginning to rise, and they were passing over Nairobi as the plane began to bank slightly, the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport coming into view. "Sorry Ron." Kim said in apology, taking his hand. "I guess I've just got a lot on my mind." she said with a smile. "With the wedding and all."

"Tell me about it! Can you believe this article?" Ron exclaimed, holding up a magazine. "Possible Engagement." he read. "'But to who?' Who? I was right there when they took the picture!" he wailed, tossing the magazine down on the coffee table where Rufus was sprawled out, snoozing and kicking his legs in the air.

"I know!" she replied, rolling her eyes as she stretched. "I got the four one one on THAT when my mom was congratulated in the operating room and didn't know why." Kim leaned over, nuzzling his cheek and planting a kiss there as well. "Trust me, Ron. Being under the radar is a good thing. It's no big."

Ron's frown flattened. "I know. I mean, I realize it sounds selfish, but would it be so bad if the world knew I got you? It would give losers the world over hope." he chuckled.

"You are not, and never were a loser, Ron Stoppable." Kim replied in all seriousness. "Unique... a little odd at times... maybe even weird..." she said, elaborating. "But that's why I love you." she finished.

"We are about to touch down, Ms. Possible." announced the pilot over the intercom. "Please buckle in."

"You heard him, Ron. Better wake up Rufus." As the trio buckled themselves into their seats, Kim rolled the name Mrs. Stoppable around in her mind and smiled. It would definitely take some getting used to. She just hoped that Ron's dream was just that; a dream.

"What seems to be the problem, Mr. Abasi?" Kim asked the tall, well dressed and clean shaven man. Mr. Abasi had the look of a very proud and dignified man, but one without the arrogance that someone in his position often gained when working with trillions of dollars. He stood a full head and shoulders above both Kim and Ron, with thick, close cropped hair and a skin tone that was so dark he could have been mistaken for a shadow if it wasn't for his friendly smile full of stark white teeth.

"While I must admit; Ms. Possible, I did call the local authorities initially. Unfortunately, they were unable to investigate exactly what happened." Mr. Abasi said, walking through several gates beside Kim.

Kim looked up at him in surprise. "Unable to investigate?" she asked.

"You mean unable to figure anything out from their investigation." Ron corrected, trying to keep up.

"I assure you that my English is quite fluent." Mr. Abasi said. "And I know what I mean, as you'll soon see." He guided them into a vault with a completely steel structure, and shelves along each wall that only had empty security deposit boxes on them, their locks torn open. In the middle of the floor was a small hole that looked as though something ripped through the dirt, concrete foundation, and steel floor of the vault. "As I was saying, they were unable to investigate."

"How would someone get in here through that, let alone get all of the stuff in here, out?" Ron asked, kneeling down to peek down the hole. "Hello!" he shouted, but not even an echo returned.

"Robotic arm?" Kim asked, activating the scanner on her wrist Kimmunicator. "Or some kind of burrowing machine?"

"That is why I called you, Ms. Possible. This vault is vacuum sealed when it is closed. Only some kind of machine could survive in here." Mr. Abasi said.

"What about the oxygen from the tunnel?" Kim asked.

"Impossible. It would take hours for the vault to fill to a level that is breathable for people, and our alarms would have sounded well before that time. The vibrations of a drilling machine too, would have alerted us."

"I can't even fit my head through here..." Ron commented, trying to do just that to the tunnel.

"Any idea where the tunnel goes, Mr. Abasi?" Kim asked, looking at the readings on her Kimmunicator.

"Somewhere under the city, I presume. We have sent fiber optic cables through, but never reached the end, and we saw nothing."

"Not to worry!" Ron grinned, snapping his fingers. "Got your answer in the pocket." Rufus poked his head out of Ron's pants pocket and yawned, looking up at Mr. Abasi with sleepy eyes.

The tall business man grimaced in disgust. "Why do you keep a pest in your pocket?" he asked.

"Rufus isn't a pest!" Ron said defensively. "He's family. Not to mention a hero!" he added as Rufus pumped his hands in the air. "And if you want our help, maybe you should apologize."

"Ron..." Kim whispered, sensing tension forming between Ron and Mr. Abasi.

"I will not." Mr. Abasi said. "It would be like you Americans befriending a cockroach!"

Before Ron could retort and further embarrass them both with the truth of that issue, Kim spoke up. "Let's just find the stolen merchandise and get home. I've got a psych paper due tomorrow and a cheer routine to prepare for the squad."

Ron reluctantly fell silent, setting Rufus on the floor. "Okay buddy; go in, find the stash, and get out so we can close this one up fast." he instructed and Rufus nodded in understanding. "Oh, and take the Lotus Blade too. Just in case." he added, fishing a pocket knife out of his pocket and handing it to Rufus. Strapping the tiny knife onto his back with a pair of elastic bands that Ron fished out of his red jacket, Rufus dived down into the hole and into the darkness.

"I'll call up Wade and see what he can do on his end." Kim said. "Don't worry, Mr. Abasi. This shouldn't take long."

**

* * *

Twenty miles outside of Nairobi, Underground;**

"We need more food if we are to expand any further."

The squeaky voice came from several feet below Chester as he worked on his contraption. He sighed, placing his light amplification goggles up into his filthy black mop of hair. He rubbed his tired eyes, replaced his goggles, and looked down at the crowd of clothed, tiny naked mole rats that were glaring up at him expectantly, they and their environment bathed in the green digital glow of his goggles.

"I taught you how to farm your own potatoes, what else do you want?" he snapped, looking out into the sparkles of light in the immense cavern. He waved an arm out toward the almost human-like city that pervaded the space. It held an assortment of manufactured items from the human city above in order to improvise conveniences for the mole rats below. "You have the largest and most advanced burrow in the world! I even brought you to the top of the evolutionary ladder, and you still want more?" he asked in irritation, the effects of fatigue beginning to take it's toll. "Know your place, Your Majesty, or I can take it back as easily as I gave it to you."

The bloated Queen shied away for a moment. Despite being twice the size of the soldier caste mole rats surrounding her, she was still no bigger than Chester's shoe. In African accented English, the Queen turned back in an effort to save face amongst her subjects. "You need more supplies from the surface. We need more food for my young."

Chester's machine was nearly complete and he slapped a rubber gloved hand against his face in impatient frustration. "Fine. You'll have your food. Maybe a bit of variety in your diet will satisfy you a bit more than tubers." he growled, taking in his project.

A grin began spreading across his face as the light from the underground city glinted across the surface of the thirty foot sphere he had spent the last two years constructing. The giant Roflax would be his key to world domination. It would have the power to grow every insect in the world to monstrous proportions and bring them all under his control. And once he strapped himself into it, he would be unstoppable.

As the Queen slunk away with her guards, another naked mole rat looked on from the roof of a tower made up of several human products that had been bound together with clay, elastic bands, and string. She should have been working to continue expanding the colony, but her interest in serving this Yapsby man and a gluttonous Queen that continuously sent her workers to steal from the humans was waning.

They were stealing jewels, electricity, food, and supplies from the surface in order to make themselves more human, though she supposed to complain would be hypocritical considering the denim pants and red short sleeved sweater she wore with brown plastic shoes. An ensemble she had taken from a human child's doll house during one of her lone escapades into the city.

Her independence however, had gotten her in trouble with the Queen's subjects many times and was certainly frowned upon by the rest of the colony. Still, she thought as she stood, she couldn't fight her instinct to protect the colony that she was a part of, and she began climbing down the vertical tower toward the Queen.

The naked mole rat Queen waddled through the city her colony had built, breathing heavily as she and her entourage crossed a bridge that had been built over a stream of fresh water supplying her city. A shadow blocked out the dim lighting of the city for a moment before another mole rat tumbled to a stop at the end of the bridge in front of the Queen. Instantly, her guards crossed their spears to block the smaller mole rat's path and growled.

"Your majesty."

"Eldora!" the Queen squeaked, nearly falling backward. "Why aren't you working?"

Eldora rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. Ever since their accelerated evolution had brought about what the Yapsby man called human level sentience, the mole rat hierarchy had begun to break down. The odd member of the colony had begun to stand up and question both the Queen, and her lack of assertiveness against Yapsby. Those mole rats had been shunned and exiled, just as would have been done before out of instinct. But now, those 'traditions' seemed barbaric, at least to Eldora.

"I was scouting, Your Majesty. If we're going to continue expanding, we're going to eventually run into the Mamba burrows." Eldora informed the Queen.

The Queen let out an indignant snort and shook her head. "Then that will save us a lot of work if we connect to their burrows, won't it?"

"But mother..."

"The Mambas no longer rule the savannah, Eldora. Much like the humans have, we will conquer the other species here and dominate that which used to make us their prey." the Queen interrupted. "Now please, either go and work or do your scouting for more food and space." she continued, gesturing for her guards to continue.

The guards pushed past Eldora; standing a full head taller than her, and continued escorting the Queen to her chamber. Eldora growled silently, the stone like feeling in her stomach growing heavier with the impression that nothing good was going to come out of this deal with the Yapsby man.


	3. Chapter Two

**Nineteen miles outside of Nairobi; Underground**

Rufus was continuing to scramble through the narrow tunnel as it continued to run deeper underground, expanding in some areas and branching off in others with frail looking electrical cables running through the tunnel from somewhere else in the city. An odd yet familiar scent permeated the tunnel despite the lack of fresh air, and he found several jewels that had been dropped in the passage due to a hasty retreat.

He had no idea how far he had crawled, but he could feel his momentum slowing with exhaustion after what he guessed was most of the day gone by. He hadn't been this dirty in a long time and really just wanted to lie down, scarf a burrito, and sleep for twenty hours. As it was though, Ron had entrusted him with both the mission and the Lotus Blade, and he wasn't going to let him down.

As he continued, the tunnel began taking on a more manufactured look, with supports that secured the ceiling and walls and expanded enough to hold a few adult humans, if uncomfortably. His buck toothed mouth gaped open as he came across a mound of precious metals, including gold, silver, and copper were piled in amongst several other mounds of what Rufus could only fathom as garbage.

Rufus twitched his whiskers in curiosity, trying to find an exit to where the thieves would have retreated to. He scurried along the floor, moving around the mounds until coming across several steep declines in the floor with a faint light emanating from them. Poking his head over the edge, Rufus couldn't help but gasp again.

In his adventures with Ron, he had gotten the opportunity to see many human cities, from Hong Kong to New York, with a bird's eye view and the tiny lights that illuminated the city below him so closely resembled a city scape as to cast a surreal feeling of vertigo in Rufus that his grip began to slip.

Letting out a panicked shout, Rufus slid down the now shifting dirt and off the edge of the chiseled ramp that would have guided him down into the city safely. Instead, he was now free falling into the city, past towers and toward a trickle of a stream that ran through the middle of the cavern.

Eldora watched the Queen disappear into the city before turning to cross the bridge herself. She would discover what the Yapsby man was up to, whether the Queen believed her or not.

After a few steps however, she stopped; her whiskers twitching in confusion. A high pitched squeal was growing in intensity and Eldora looked around to find it's source before looking up. It was the only action she had time to take before Rufus crashed down on top of her, causing them both to plummet through the bridge and into the stream a foot below.

Rufus shook his head to clear it, taking a moment to get his bearings before realizing he was under water, and that he wasn't alone. Being a subterranean mammal, his instinct told him which way was up and he clenched a paw around Eldora's tail, pulling her unconscious form to the surface. Sucking in an abundance of once again familiar fresh air, Rufus gasped as he broke the surface of the water. He flopped Eldora onto the bank and crawled up after her, shaking and wet.

The female mole rat coughed and sputtered suddenly, sitting up in surprise as Rufus looked at her in apology, issuing a series of squeaks and whistles. Gasping for air, Eldora scrambled away from him. "What are you doing?" she shouted as several naked mole rat guards in makeshift armor surrounded the pair.

Rufus hung his mouth open in surprise and he stared at Eldora. She was speaking English. Something Rufus could sometimes mimic, though it seemed Ron was often the only one that could understand. In fact, the hushed whispers of several mole rats were in passable, if heavily accented English. Rufus tilted his head, still breathing heavily.

"Don't you speak?" she asked, standing and trying to wring out her wet clothing.

Rufus shook his head and let out a "Nuh uh."

The crowd began backing away from him in apparent fear as burly mole rats pushed through. They were wearing what passed for armor, made from plastic or tin pieces of garbage or toys and carrying various melee weapons made of the same. "Intruder!" one of them shouted.

At first, Eldora's natural instinct was to move out of the way of the soldiers. But as Rufus stood to defend himself, she noticed a pair of elastic bands holding a shining sword to his back. "Wait!" she shouted, holding up her forepaws and sliding in between Rufus and the soldier's spears.

"Out of the way, Eldora!" one of the soldiers ordered, advancing forward to push her out of the way. "He's not from our burrow."

"Maybe not." she admitted hesitantly. "But he is like us." she said, the thoughts of more mole rats being only partially intelligent running through her mind. It would be proof that more than just their burrow had been affected, and that maybe it wasn't so natural after all. "Who are you?" she asked, turning to Rufus.

Rufus brushed himself off and did his best to explain who he was, where he came from, and why he was there in his usual series of squeaks and whistles to a captive, if confused audience. "I don't think he's using real words." one of the soldiers whispered.

"It's the old tongue." Eldora replied as Rufus continued his rant. It was one of the first things the colony of mole rats lost during their evolution, instead gaining their new language and speech ability from their exploration of the touristy parts of the city where it was easier to hide.

"You see? He is not like us!" said another guard. "If he escapes, he will report our food supply to his colony!"

It was true that the evolved naked mole rats were needing more food to sustain themselves, and any thefts by intruders could be disastrous, but Eldora didn't sense any kind of intent from Rufus. He didn't even... smell like he was from a burrow. Before Eldora could argue any further however, the crowd surrounding them parted to allow the Queen through.

"Who is this?" she asked, glaring down at Rufus.

"An intruder, Your Majesty. He wears no clothing and cannot speak, yet carries a weapon." said one of the soldiers.

"He's not an..." Eldora began.

The Queen ignored her. "If he's from another colony, he can't be allowed to return to it. Throw him in the pit."

"But if I could be allowed to study him, I could prove that our evolution is from an outside source!" Eldora interrupted.

The Queen's bloated pink figure was turning a deep red and her black, beady eyes narrowed. "I've grown tired of your selfish attitude, Eldora. Very well. You can have all the time you need in the pit with him!"

Eldora let out a squeak of protest, her voice suddenly failing her.

**

* * *

Nairobi, Commercial District**

"Wade, any chance you can get a lock on Rufus?" Kim asked, walking beside Ron through the crowded streets of Nairobi. It had been a full night and half a day since the naked mole rat had disappeared under the floor of the I & M Bank, and the jet lag had worn both of them down. She was just grateful that her current Professors were more understanding of her absences than Professor Credible had been.

"Sorry Kim." Wade replied with a yawn. The now teenaged genius was still in his pajamas and sitting at his desk, his eyes darkened and red from lack of sleep as well. "Normally, finding a naked mole rat anywhere else in the world would be easy. There, it's like finding a..."

"Rat in a sewer?" Ron said in a sullen tone as he kicked a small pebble out of his way.

"I was going to go with the traditional needle in a haystack, but yeah."

"Do what you can, Wade." Kim said with a hopeful smile before cutting the connection. She reached out to clasp Ron's hand in hers in order to get his attention. "Can't you, like, tell where the Lotus Blade is or something?"

"No." Ron replied with a sigh. "I could call it, but unless you want a repeat of last time, it's probably not a good idea."

Kim frowned at the memory. The circumstances surrounding Ron summoning the Lotus Blade were grim enough as it was with her trying to kill him and darken the sky over Miami with Walter Nelson's evil inducing serum; the awkward explanation of the Lotus Blade's near instantaneous path of destruction from the mountains of Japan to the South East coast of the United States wasn't something Kim wanted to relive.

"I mean, what if I lost the little guy?" Ron lamented loudly, earning him several odd stares from the people surrounding them. "We've been best buds for so long. A team. Can you even imagine what it would be like?" he asked, though the question didn't seem directed at Kim.

She thought of all the times she had nearly lost Ron throughout their adventures, from her first battle with the BeBe bots to the Christmas when he had gone to stop Drakken's evil plot alone and wound up stranded in the Arctic. "I have a pretty good idea." she answered. Suddenly, the glint of sunlight off of a shining jewel caught Kim's eye as they continued their stroll through the crowds of the street market, and she turned to see an tall African man holding up a single ruby to the sun with a small marble bag in his other hand. He was showing his prize to a group of awe struck friends, laughing excitedly. "Ron, look!" she whispered, pointing.

Ron looked up, his high tech glasses polarizing against the sun instantly. "Kim, I know you're still sore about that ruby belt buckle I bought Bonnie, but that was years ago..."

Kim growled back in reply. "It's a whole bag of gems, possibly from the bank. If we can find out where he got them, we can close up this mission, get Rufus, and get out of here!"


	4. Chapter Three

Chester stood in the halls of the district's insectarium, staring at some of the world's most deadly and diverse insects, all in one place. He frowned, recalling the time he would spend in an insectarium such as this in America under the tutelage of Dr. Icari. It had been wonderful work, but his decision to surpass his teacher by stealing and modifying the Roflax had branded him an outcast amongst the entomology circles.

They would never accept him back now. To them, he had perverted their study by irradiating the cockroaches in Middleton and turning the near indestructible creatures into an army the could have challenged the world's superpowers if he had only had more time. "If only those teens hadn't gotten in the way." he growled to himself.

"Lucky for you then, I won't be a teenager much longer." Kim said, approaching the wild haired scientist quietly from behind. Ron was approaching from Chester's right side while Kim approached from his left. The glass observation window looking into the insectarium cut off his escape from the front.

The sound of Kim's voice caused Chester to instantly hunch and his eyes darted in search for the nearest shadow. "You!" he shouted, spinning around. "Wh... What are you doing here?"

"We're here to stop you from robbing anymore banks, Yapsby." Kim replied. The man with the bag of jewels hadn't been very forthcoming at first as to where he had gotten the gems, but all it took was the assurance that Kim wasn't there to retrieve them, and that Chester was probably bent on overrunning Nairobi with a plague of locusts.

Chester looked confused at first, then grinned at the pair. "I haven't robbed any banks, Ms. Possible. Perhaps you should check your evidence again."

Kim rolled her eyes. "We know you've been using insects to burrow into the Nairobi vaults, Chester. Besides, you're still a US escaped convict and Global Justice is already on their way to apprehend you. Now where's the rest of the jewels?"

"And Rufus! Where's he?" Ron asked, worry and impatience filling his voice.

"Rufus?" Chester asked, confused.

"Small. Bald. Pink. Buck teeth." Kim added. "We sent him down the burrow in the vault."

Chester's eyes began to widen with recognition and his mind began to race. If the blond boy's rodent pet found the naked mole rat colony, his entire plot may be in jeopardy. He calmly turned back to the observation window, forcing a smile as he did. "Did you know that one of the most problematic insects in this insectarium is the Paederus crebinpunctatus? While it has no bite or sting, it's body holds a toxin that when swatted, causes lesions and blisters on the skin that can cause agony for people for weeks."

"Gee, thanks for the biology lesson, dude." Ron said nonchalantly, crossing his arms over his chest in obvious discomfort. "Can we go now? This place has my jeepers creeping."

Suddenly, Chester reached out for one of the gold plated metal divider posts that were meant to keep people back from the observation window. Kim and Ron instantly took on defensive postures, but Chester knew Kim's reputation for martial arts as well as anyone else. He turned back to the glass window instead, smashing it with the metal post.

Alarms began to blare and an endless stream of angry insects began to stream out of the large hole in the glass. Ron screamed and Kim ducked, trying to brush beetles, moths, and flying ants out of her voluminous hair while her fiance flailed around in a panic.

"Ah! They're gnawing on my skull! Spiders and ants and creepy fluttery things! They're in my pants! Oh why are they in my pants?" Ron shouted, completely preoccupied.

"Ron!" Kim shouted, shielding her eyes from the swarm. But it was no use. Ron wasn't paying attention anymore and she barely caught sight of Chester's rubber boot disappear through a doorway inside the insectarium. She growled, her skin beginning to burn and redden from several stings and bites as she pushed through the agitated cloud of insects filling the room. "Glad my shots are up to date..."

She flung the door open and entered the staff only section of the insectarium, looking either direction down the hall in search of Chester. The man had ran to the right, dumping equipment like nets and microscopes from the counters in an attempt to block her path. Kim chased after him, leaping over wreckage, through toppled shelves, and sliding under a desk that Chester moved into her path.

The chase wound through several corridors until Chester shouldered through an emergency exit door. Kim eyed the portal carefully, not breaking her stride, and spied a narrow window above the door. Pulling her grapple gun from her hip holster, she took aim and fired the hard tip through the window, smashing the glass into pieces. She stepped up on a counter, winding in her grapple line as she straightened her body and dived through the tiny window to land on her feet on the other side of the door. "You're done... for... Yaps...by." she said, feeling uncharacteristically tired and stiff.

At first, Chester cowered. But as Kim's knees began to shake and buckle, he pulled the chair he had wedged under the door handle and set it in from of Kim. "I'm impressed, Ms. Possible. With the amount of venom coursing through your blood stream after such strenuous activity, most people would be completely paralyzed by now." he snickered. "Lucky for me, you're still only human."

Kim grabbed the back of the chair in an attempt to steady herself as she fell to the floor. Her vision was beginning to swim and spin and she watched helplessly as Chester casually walked away. "Wade..." Kim slurred into her wrist mounted Kimmunicator. "Little... help..."

* * *

While Eldora was searching the hard stone walls of the inside of the dark as night pit, Rufus laid on his back in the center, twitching his whiskers. The pit seemed to be an old water well that had collapsed in on itself, surrounded by semi smooth ceramic walls that neither his nor Eldora's teeth or claws could find purchase in. The top of the well was covered by a large flat stone that had taken several of the naked mole rat soldiers to move. It was a very effective prison.

Fortunately, this wasn't the first time Rufus had found himself a captive.

Eldora let out a grunt in frustration as she turned and looked at her companion, who was lazily humming a tune. She walked over to Rufus's side and placed her forepaws on her hips. "Aren't you going to help me get us get out of here?"

Rufus seemed to consider the suggestion, then shook his head. "Mmmm... Nuh-uh."

"I guess I was wrong about you then. You're not as intelligent as we are. You can't even comprehend that we are going to starve here!" she said, her whispered complaint becoming a shout. She sat down with a huff and sighed, burying her face in her forepaws. "And what's worse is that you can't even understand me."

Rufus frowned at the female mole rat in sympathy, putting a paw on her shoulder. "Awww..."

Eldora looked up from her paws and into Rufus's face. "You can understand me, can't you?" she asked. The colony had repelled other naked mole rat intruders before, but their unequaled intelligence made them easy to dissuade.

Rufus nodded and shrugged.

"Then why can't you talk? Why are you still... naked?"

Rufus let out a sigh, recalling the time when Ron had picked him out of dozens of far more common and cute pets at Smarty Mart. It hadn't even been a day since that moment that he had found himself dismantling an electronic keypad to open the gates of the Cuddle Buddy collector, Mr. Paisley on Kim and Ron's first mission. Before that moment had always been a haze, however. He had been so young at the time, yet had understood more than the other animals in the pet department.

Though truthfully, he had never even met another naked mole rat until now.

Before Eldora could ask more questions, Rufus stood, chittering and squeaking in an attempt to explain as best as he could his life up until now with the use of charade like gestures. His exposure to mystical monkey powers, his accidental swallowing of the Greet X chip, and being subjected to Project Phoebus.

He recalled his part in foiling Dr. Drakken's Diablo plot, traveling across the globe with Camille Leon's cat Debutante, and how he disabled the Lorwardian invasion ship.

Eldora was staring up at Rufus, despite only being able to 'see' him through the use of her whiskers. His story was beyond conception; heroic, romantic. She suddenly shook the adoration from her head. "This doesn't make any sense." Eldora said. "You've done all of these things, yet you haven't been here. I was so sure that the metal ball had something to do with our intelligence." she sighed.

Rufus looked at her in confusion.

"The metal ball. It's above the Queen's chamber, but I can't show you because we're stuck in this pit!" she shouted again. Rufus grinned, letting out a string of squeaks as he pulled the Lotus Blade from his makeshift belt. "And just what are you going to do with that?"

Rufus held the tiny sword at arm's length and it flashed, lighting up the pit like a strobe as it shifted forms. The knife became a shovel, a spoon, a toothpick, a wrench, and a blowtorch before settling on a pickaxe. Rufus nodded in satisfaction and turned, cutting into the wall of the pit with the shattering sound of ceramic clay.


	5. Chapter Four

Chester's jeep slid to a stop in a cloud of dust and he let out a hacking fit as he climbed out. His breathing was labored and heavy from his escape from Kim Possible, and the drive from Nairobi to the naked mole rat colony was roadless and dusty. But the hurried trip had been required now that Kim Possible was on his trail; especially so if her blond friend's pet had managed to get to the colony.

He stumbled through the dust cloud and pulled the tools and equipment that he would need to complete his MegaRoflax. He had planned to take his time in order to evade the authorities investigating the sudden influx of gold, rubies, and other precious metals, but he would have to push forward now that he was discovered. He dragged his materials over to a large hole he had been using as an entrance and dropped the sack down the ladder before climbing after it.

By the time Chester reached the bottom and turned on his light amplification goggles, the Queen and a group of her workers had begun rooting through the bags, looking for the food he had promised them. "Yapsby!" the Queen shouted in a tinny voice. "Where is our payment?"

Chester rolled his eyes, picking up the heavy bag and brushing the mole rats off of it. "There's been a development. Have you had any intruders into your colony?"

The Queen went deathly silent, obvious surprise showing on the female's buck toothed and whiskered face. "He was placed in the pit." she reluctantly admitted.

"Get rid of him. He's going to bring the other humans and then my project..." Chester said, pausing a moment before correcting himself. "Your colony will be in danger."

The Queen was reluctantly nodding. "But what about our food! If my colony starves, it won't matter who discovers us!"

"Then maybe it's time to thin the herd." he replied under his breath. He otherwise ignored her plea, continuing toward the MegaRoflax and climbing up the small step ladder to the hatch.

"Yapsby!" the Queen shouted, her tiny voice echoing in the cavern. "We upheld our end of the bargain!"

"If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be bargaining anything! You would still be running backward through your burrows and eating your own feces!" he shouted as he pushed his supplies into the cramped space of the MegaRoflax and crawled in after them. "But don't worry. You'll soon get your reward, your Majesty. By being the first victims of my army of insects!" he giggled before closing the hatchway.

The naked mole rat Queen stared after him in confusion. She looked around at her guards for an explanation, who only shrugged. Then one by one, colorful lights began to activate on the hull of the MegaRoflax and a low hum rose through the cavern.  


* * *

"You are very lucky, Ms. Possible." Mr. Abasi said, standing behind the African doctor that was tending to her multiple insect bites and stings.

"She doesn't look very lucky." Ron commented. He was sitting beside her hospital bed, looking relatively unscathed save for a few reddened blemishes that were causing him to itch. Kim, on the other hand, had developed a speckled red and purple rash over three quarters of her exposed body. Her bare arms, neck and face were swollen and only the thick layer of ointment was keeping her own itching sensation to a minimum. The fact was, she had been lucky that Wade had loaded a universal antidote into her wrist Kimmunicator that had been injected when she had called him before passing out.

"Thank you, Ron." she growled, forcing herself to sit up despite her unnaturally stiff muscles. If she looked anything like she felt, she knew he was just being his brutally honest self, and pushed the comment aside for now. "Am I good to go?"

The doctor examining Kim let out a string of words in Swahili that Mr. Abasi translated. "He says your body will feel very stiff for a few days while the venom works its way out of your system. He advises that you stay indoors."

"But what about Chester? He's out there somewhere and up to no good!"

Beep beep beepbeep

Kim sighed at her predicament, answering her Kimmunicator. "What's the sitch, Wade?"

"I... Whoa. Are you okay, Kim?" the boy asked, surprised by Kim's visage.

"Info, please." she growled, looking away.

"Uhm, K." Wade said, focusing on another computer monitor. "I just picked up readings of massive doses of power and low bandwidth signals."

"Let me guess. Looks kinda like what Professor Icari's Roflax used to put out?"

"Yup. But in a way bigger radius!"

"Uhm, how big?" Ron asked, now looking over Kim's shoulder to peer at the tiny screen.

"Global big. He's tapped into several satellites and he's beaming the signal all over the world!" Wade announced. "The ratio of insects to people is roughly two hundred million to one. If he takes control of them all..."

"It'll be a bigger catastrophe than Drakken's Diablos." Kim finished for him.

"Yeah, only way more creepy! Is he gonna grow them like the roaches, too?" Ron asked, unable to contain a hair raising shiver.

"That took a few days last time. Where's the signal coming from, Wade?" Kim asked. "He has to be nearby!"

After typing a flurry of keys, Wade grinned. "Gottim'! Looks like he's twenty miles outside of Nairobi!"

Kim swallowed hard, recalling the first time they had faced Chester and his army of giant cockroaches. She had been literally frozen in fear; a proverbial damsel in distress for the first time in her life. She had even gone so far as to abandon Ron in the face of assured death to avoid the giant creepy crawlers. "Mr. Abasi... We... are going to need a ride. Preferably an enclosed one."

Mr. Abasi nodded, pulling a cell phone from the inside pocket of his suit and turned away to speak privately.

"Kim." Ron whispered, placing a comforting hand on the small of her back. "You just went from scabby red to ghostly white. What's up?"

Kim took a deep breath to compose herself and shivered. "Nothing. I am totally fine with facing a world of giant insects." she said, more to convince herself than anyone else.

"I certainly hope so, Ms. Possible." Mr. Abasi said, putting his cell phone away and walking toward the closed window in the room. He opened the blinds and Kim stepped up beside him. Outside, there were literally millions of insects crawling and flying around; some nearly twice their usual size already.

A significant cloud of them were streaming toward where Wade calculated Chester's new Roflax to be and Kim bit her lip. "I guess we know where we're going."  


* * *

  
The dirt floor of the Queen's chamber opened up and Rufus burst out, coughing and sputtering dirt while trying to gasp for air. A moment later, he was pushed out of the tiny tunnel by Eldora, who poked her head up, expecting to arrive to a dozen pointed spears. But the chamber was empty, with only a faint buzzing coming from beyond the gear driven stone door that sealed the room.

"Where is everyone?" Eldora asked, crawling out of the whole. "I was kind of expecting to be killed the moment we came up in the most secure location in the colony."

Rufus turned to her in surprise, squeaking out a string of irate expletives.

"Why do you think I let you lead?" she asked, brushing her clothing off. "Anyway, there it is." she added, pointing up at the ceiling.  
Embedded in the dirt, hung a rusty grey ball with flickering yellow lights that provided the chamber with illumination. Tiny cables ran along the ceiling that had been spliced into the device, providing the minute power demands of the naked mole rat city that surrounded the  
chamber.

Rufus's mouth gaped open as he recognized the device. It was the Roflax that Chester Yapsby had stolen from Professor Icari several years ago, but was obviously old, weathered, and it barely had any power left. If it had been active for as long as Eldora implied...

Suddenly, he began screeching, jumping, and pointing at the Roflax, gesturing to Eldora's head and making large motions with his hands. "This would be a lot easier if you could just speak." Eldora said, placing her paws on her hips.

Rufus growled, slapping a paw across his face in frustration. It wasn't the first time he had to play charades to get a message across, but at least those people he had had to communicate with hadn't been his own species. Now, when it should be easy, it was the most irritating.

He scurried up onto a stone dais that was covered in jewels, presumably the Queen's 'throne', and proceeded to climb the hard packed dirt wall with his claws as he had been taught at the  
Yamanouchi school. The Roflax was several feet up from the floor, and Rufus had to struggle as the walls slowly curved in a dome into the ceiling.

Eldora watched with amazement as Rufus scaled the wall, and then ceiling. It had taken the colony a long time to reach the sphere, building steps up to it and siphoning power out of it. When that had been completed, the Queen had ordered that the sphere would never be  
touched again. Eldora believed her mother knew as she did that the secret to their intelligence lay in the object, and was too afraid of the device being accidentally deactivated. Instead, she led her colony to believe she was a special Queen, and that it was she that granted sentience to her offspring. It was no wonder she wanted Rufus quieted.

As Rufus began tunneling around the Roflax, the buzzing coming from outside of the chamber began to grow louder, and shadows were shifting through the tiny cracks of the door. Giving in to her curiosity, Eldora moved toward the large stone doors and peeked through the cracks, trying to see what was going on outside.

And gasped.

There were locusts as large as the naked mole rat soldiers they were battling, and centipedes armed with stingers that were filling the pathways with their long, segmented bodies and trampling everything in their way. Suddenly, a massive stag beetle with mandibles that could  
slice her in half grasped the stone door and pulled it off of the chains that held it in place.

Rufus heard Eldora scream as he chewed through the last blotch of mud and roots that were keeping the Roflax in place. The Roflax fell as Eldora ran back into the chamber, the beetle close behind. With a desperate leap, she dived onto the Queen's dais as Rufus and the Roflax dropped onto the stag beetle's head and rolled off, lodging itself between the creature's mandibles.

Sitting on top of the Roflax, Rufus stared into the stag beetle's shiny black eyes and let out a terrified squeak. The creature was nearly three times his size already, and began shaking it's head to and fro in an attempt to dislodge the device. Rufus continued to hold onto the Roflax, his paws catching on several of the machine's controls.

Eldora shook her head and crawled out of the mound of jewels that the Queen often surrounded herself with. Rufus's screams had stopped and she looked to where the Roflax had dropped. The stag beetle stood calmly in the center of the Queen's chamber, holding the sphere in his immense jaws. The device was humming now, and Rufus was sitting on the beetle's shell, his glowing sword in hand.

"Who are you?" she asked as he offered a paw to her to join him.


	6. Chapter Five

Chester stood in the MegaRoflax, grinning madly. While the device only gave him access to simple commands, and only gave out enough radiation to grow his army of insects that were within a few miles of the machine, it was working perfectly. All of the insects within a hundred miles of the naked mole rat colony were slowly making their way to Chester's position, growing larger as they got closer.

"Finally! My insect army is growing by the moment, and there is nothing that can stop me!" Chester laughed, watching the influence that the MegaRoflax had over the world's population of insects.

* * *

Across the planet, insects seemed to go into a frenzy, attacking people, clogging machines, covering windows, and eating crops. Flies began attacking livestock in farmlands, cockroaches were crawling up drains from the sewers, and grasshoppers started to scour across fields, stripping them bare.

"Things are bad, Kim." Wade said through her wrist Kimmunicator. "Chester's new Roflax is making insects all over the world go crazy. Even the nocturnal ones are in a frenzy!" he explained, picking up a can of insect killer and spraying a bee as it flew past his face.

"So we find Chester and shut it down." Kim said defiantly. Even with just the short drive in Mr. Abasi's limousine, a lot of her swelling and redness had faded. "And what's going to keep all of the creepers away from us this time?"

"I uploaded a new app to your Kimmunicator and Ron's glasses. It sends out a subharmonic pulse that should keep most insects away." he said, though he appeared uncertain. "Their change in size could give them unforeseen side effects on their sensitivity, though."

"Well then we'd better get in there quick and shut Chester down before they stop being so flickable." Kim said, taking a breath and moving to open the door. "C'mon, Ron."

"Nnnh!" he whined, trying to back away from the other side of the limousine.

Kim rolled her eyes. "Ron, you repelled an alien invasion with your bare hands! What's wrong?"

"Yeah, but they were, y'know, big! And not creepy crawly! Besides, you were..."

"In danger? Well I'm about to be in danger again, Ron. You're not just a sidekick anymore. You're my fiance." she said, reaching out to touch his cheek. "I'm hoping you've still got my back." she added, activating the insect repellent on her Kimmunicator.

Ron was visibly shaking still, but he nodded and activated the repeller on his glasses. "Let's do it." he said, forcing a smile.

Before he could open his door however, what sounded like a helicopter flew overhead and the limousine shook. The driver began yelling unintelligibly as the vehicle lurched, nearly coming off of the ground. "Go!" Kim shouted, opening the door and rolling out as Ron did the same. She looked up as she hit the dirt, grimacing at the sight of a four foot long dragonfly that was trying to carry off the limousine.

Her skin tingled and she could feel the hair on the back of her neck rise as the creature looked at her. While the smaller, more normal sized insects were forming a bubble around her, repelled by her Kimmunicator, the dragonfly didn't seem to be fazed by the gadget. Kim started backing away in a panicked crawl as the dragonfly fluttered it's wings for a moment to jump down off of the car.

The moment it's wheels touched the ground, the limousine sped away, making a one eighty degree spin before vanishing into the cloud of insects that were still coming. The dragonfly crept forward clumsily, twitching erratically and readying itself for an attack.

Suddenly, it's mandibles opened wide and it clicked several times before being dragged away by the tail. Taking on a shimmering blue halo, the dragonfly was suddenly wrenched backward by Ron, and thrown into the sky to be attacked by a swarm of locusts that were just arriving. "You okay, KP?" Ron shouted over the incessant buzzing.

Kim nodded, standing and sweeping a large red beetle from his jacket collar that caused him to shiver in disgust. "Ron, we need to find Chester!" Kim shouted back.

Ron swallowed hard, pointing several feet away where a whirlwind of flying insects were disappearing into the ground. "Think that has anything to do with him?"

Kim turned and sighed. "Why are these things never easy?"

* * *

Rufus guided the stag beetle out through the broken chamber door, using the Roflax to control the still growing insect. The scene outside the Queen's chamber was chaotic. Ants and termites were engulfing the naked mole rat city, and the colony's soldiers were doing their best to defend themselves against a variety of other species.

"We need to find the Queen!" Eldora shouted over Rufus's shoulder. "She'll be able to bring the colony's defenses together!"

Rufus nodded, forcing the beetle to plow through the crowd. As they moved through the swarm, several insects that came near seemed to grow confused and stop, suddenly docile as the Roflax exuded its influence on them. Rufus continued swinging the Lotus Blade at random, catching the odd attacking insect and slicing it in two before Eldora pointed through the haze. "There!"

The Queen lied still, cut off from her soldiers and being tossed and beaten around viciously by a tag team of three mutant mantises. Rufus charged into the crowd, goading the stag beetle into trampling one as he performed a ninja like somersault between the other two. With lightning quick reflexes, the mantises struck out with immense, razor sharp claws.

Rufus parried one and then the other, defending himself and the Queen from either side. He could feel the mystical monkey power that he had been subjected to fill his mind with more Tai Sheng Pek War maneuvers than there had ever been before, and he was managing to spin, dive, and attack with remarkable grace and agility.

Eldora slid off of the back of the stag beetle and rushed through the melee to her mother, coming to a stop beside the bloated Queen. "Eldora..." the Queen rasped. There were cuts and bruises over her entire body, and it was obvious that she had taken far too much punishment for a fertile naked mole rat to survive.

"Mother!" Eldora shouted, her lips quivering behind her teeth.

"Eldora, the Yapsby man. He betrayed us. I trusted our colony to him and he betrayed us. He called our enemies here."

"Where is he, mother? We can still save you. The colony. I was right, mother! It's the orb that made us evolve!"

"I know. You were always right. You will make a far greater Queen than I did." the Queen smiled.

Eldora gasped. "I can't! I'm not even..."

"Yes you are. You've been so rebellious of late. It's your instinct taking over. Nothing... can change... who we are..."

Rufus sliced the legs off of one mantises as he rolled beneath it, then stood to face the next, holding the Lotus Blade up in an attack position. The second mantis began to charge and Rufus concentrated, changing the Lotus Blade from it's tiny katana form and into a lengthy spear-like weapon that pierced the insect's thorax.

Reverting the Lotus Blade back to a tiny sword, Rufus rushed over to Eldora and the Queen, squeaking a question. "No. She's gone." she announced sadly. "She said the Yapsby man did this." she said, looking up at the MegaRoflax through the shroud of insects.

"Rufus!"

Rufus suddenly perked his head up at the sound of a familiar human voice and smiled, taking Eldora's hand and pulling her back onto the stag beetle's shell. Even through the dark cloud in the cavern, he could see Ron's red denim jacket, grey camouflage cargo pants and blond hair; with Kim in her customary purple and black mission gear beside him. They were at the bottom of the ladder that led to the surface and moving toward him.

"Those are humans!" Eldora shouted angrily, still stinging from Chester's betrayal.

Rufus squeaked an affirmative and continued on. The smaller insects seemed to be keeping their distance from the pair and they were holding hands, with Ron somehow sharing his mystical aura with Kim. They were fighting off the larger bugs in perfect synchronization, cutting a swathe of destruction through the swarm.

"Buddy!" Ron suddenly cried. "You're okay! And you've made some friends!" he added, shifting his gaze to Eldora and the rest of the naked mole rats that were beginning to lose the battle. Rufus let out a quick series of chitters and squeaks, pointing at the MegaRoflax. "Right. Chester."

Ron charged forward, letting out a comical battlecry as he did. But the swarm filling the cavern seemed to solidify and the bubble surrounding him collapsed as something forced the insects to attack. Even with his mystical aura, the insects fell on him, biting and stinging and pushing him back; making gaps in their form where he tried to swat them.

"Ron!" Kim shouted, backing away from a giant black centipede that had crept up behind her. She could feel her teeth chattering, but she settled into a mobile stance, preparing herself for whatever attack it was going to throw at her. "Rufus! That thing must have some way inside. Shut it down! Hurry!"

Rufus looked from Kim to Ron and back again. Ron was now surrounded by millions of bees, flies, and other insects that were trying to get through his magical aura and distracting him away from his goal. Kim was starting to dodge her way out of being cornered by the centipede, some more mutant mantises, and other larger than life insects. He turned back to face Eldora.

The naked mole rat nodded, sliding off of the beetle's shell. "Go!" she whispered.

"Hiah!" Rufus shouted, urging the stag beetle toward the MegaRoflax. More insects swooped down to intercept him and Rufus opened the split shell of the stag beetle, crawling inside the small space where the creature's wings were kept safe. The beetle continued to charge at Rufus's command, virtually impenetrable to the onslaught of the other insects.

The stag beetle reached the MegaRoflax with a thump and Rufus leaped out from it's shell, signalling it to go back to protect Eldora. He swung the Lotus Blade across the hull of the massive globe and climbed in, looking for something to tear apart.

* * *

Eldora let out a loud whistle through her front teeth that pierced through the deafening buzz that was filling the cavern. The naked mole rat soldiers took a precious moment to look and she waved them toward the Queen's chamber. "Fall back!"

The soldiers nodded, passing the command on to the workers that they were defending. The crowd of frightened workers scurried toward the broken stone door as the soldiers gave ground, backing toward the chamber. "Into the pit!" Eldora stated, ushering the workers into the tunnel that Rufus had dug.

"What about the humans?" one soldier asked, using his spear to fight off a giant wasp.

Eldora stared at the pair of humans in indecision, growling to herself. While the Yapsby man had certainly shown himself to be a menace, it appeared that these two were trying to help. "I will help them. Defend the colony!"

The soldier nodded and Eldora scampered out of the chamber on all fours, keeping as low as she could with the swarm flying only inches above the cavern floor.

* * *

Kim reached her arms into the swarm, wrapping them around Ron's chest and pulling him away from the MegaRoflax. All of the insects were now nearly five times their original size, biting and stinging in defense of Chester's machine. As the pair retreated, the swarm condensed again into the vague form of a man with wild hair that made a grin out of locusts, flies, and cockroaches. It wagged a finger at them that was no more than a hand constructed out of centipedes and beetles.

"Ew..." Kim and Ron said in unison.

"It's Chester's will. We need to disrupt his signal somehow." Kim said, backing away toward the exit. She was noticing the bubble that her sonic repellent had created was shrinking. If they didn't escape soon, they would be done for.

* * *

Rufus continued cutting a tunnel through the MegaRoflax, an army of pincher ants following after him and blocking his escape. Components were beginning to spark and the machine was filling with smoke from his random attacks on its systems and the faint sound of coughing caught his attention.

Altering his path, Rufus began clamouring through air vents that were quickly filling with smoke, the ants creeping ever closer. Finally, Rufus reached the upper level of the machine where Chester sat cross legged with his hands locked into two cuff-like attachments that were connected to the MegaRoflax.

Rufus looked back to see the first dozen red colored pincher ants burst out of the air vent and scramble toward him. They were growing as he watched, stumbling over themselves with severely diminished coordination and Rufus scurried up Chester's back, up to his head.

* * *

Smoke was beginning to pour out of the MegaRoflax and the insect ridden, humanoid form standing before them began to shudder and lose cohesion as it continued forward.

Both Kim and Ron struck at the bug person, but every time they connected, the target of their attack either shifted form or was simply filled again by more insects, stinging and biting them in return for their effort.

"How do you beat a man made out of bugs?" Ron asked through heavy breaths.

"Hey!" Eldora shouted from below them.

Kim looked down at the tiny naked mole rat riding a giant beetle. "Did you just talk?" she asked, suddenly stunned.

"Would you rather it was the beetle?" Eldora asked, crossing her arms.

"Good point." Kim replied with a shrug.

"Take this." The naked mole rat said, pointing at the Roflax still wedged between the beetle's jaws.

"The Roflax? But where did you... nevermind." Kim said, grimacing. She was not particularly happy with the idea of getting close to the grotesque creature's maw. She closed her eyes shut and reached down, wrenching the small rusty sphere out of the stag beetle's mandibles and pushing it toward the bug man.

* * *

Rufus was still sitting on Chester's head, watching the horde of pinching ants crawl up the man's body. Smoke was continuing to fill the space and Chester coughed again, bursting into a hacking fit that broke his concentration. "Wha! What?" he coughed out, looking around the room. As an ant the size of his hand crawled over his cheek, he cried out in a panic, pulling his hands out of the machine in order to swat them away.

Rufus leaped down, bringing the Lotus Blade across Chester's interface with the MegaRoflax, destroying the cuffs in a bright flash of blue energy.

"No!" Chester shouted. "My controls! Without them, I..."

Rufus was already cutting himself a new path out of the MegaRoflax as the pinching ants turned on their master.

* * *

The bug man fell apart in front of Kim and Ron, dropping in a disgusting pile of frenzied insects that had suddenly lost all incentive to work together. Concentrating hard, Kim closed her eyes and squeezed the Roflax in her hands, ordering the swarm in the cavern to turn toward the MegaRoflax and destroy it.

The cloud of insects suddenly stopped their whirlwind attack against the naked mole rats and covered Chester's machine, looking for any path they could to get inside. "Come on, Ron!" Kim said, dragging him toward the exit.

"Rufus!" Ron called as flames began spewing out of the MegaRoflax. They climbed the ladder back into the light of day only moments before the ground around them heaved with the explosion of the MegaRoflax, then collapsed in on the naked mole rat burrow.


	7. Epilogue

Ron was kneeling down on the edge of the crater, his head hung low and his arms at his sides. There had been no sign of movement for over an hour and Kim was beginning to lose hope. She sat beside Ron, holding one of his hands in both of hers. "Ron, I..." she began. While her fiance had always been a little prone to drama, it had always seemed to be in jest. Even when he thought he had lost Rufus for good during the mix up in Greece their Senior year.

"I know, Kim. He was a good rodent." he sniffed, glistening tears rolling down his cheeks.

"He was more than that." Eldora said, patting the man's knee from her place before them. "He tried to save this whole colony."

Suddenly Ron perked up; his larger than normal ears twitching slightly. "Ron, what is it?"

"Digging." he said, jumping to his feet.

"You think those bugs are coming up?" Kim asked, standing as well and taking a defensive posture. Within a few moments, several spots in the crater began to tremble and heave and Kim and Ron put their backs together, preparing for another battle. "You take the twenty to the right, I'll take the twenty to the left."

"I don't think that will be necessary." Eldora whispered with a smile, racing to help the first naked mole rat soldier out of the tunnel he had dug. A stream of workers began crawling out ofter him, coughing and sputtering. "The pit! The well they were in must have survived the cave in!"

Both Kim and Ron watched as dozens of clothed, yet still naked mole rats began climbing out of the ground around them. "But... What about... Where's Rufus?" Ron asked, searching the growing crowd of rodents for his friend.

"Ron!" Kim said suddenly, realization coming to her. "Didn't he have the Lotus Blade?"

Ron's expression dropped for a moment, then hope returned to his eyes as he held out his hand and concentrated. Immediately, the center of the crater exploded in a shower of dirt and rocks, the glowing katana seemingly flinging itself into Ron's hand. "Rufus?" But there was no naked mole rat attached to the handle of the weapon and Ron fell to his knees again, taking a ragged breath.

"Wait!" Eldora shouted, scampering toward where the Lotus Blade had erupted from. At the edge of the hole came a toy-like squeak as Rufus flopped himself over the edge. "He's alive!"

"He's okay!" Ron looked up at where Eldora was speaking from and raced forward, scooping both naked mole rats up in his arms and squeezing them close. Rufus and Eldora gasped and squirmed in Ron's grip, doing their best to push away until the man finally put them down again. "I thought you were a goner, little buddy!" he said, nearly choking on his words.

"Ron... We should really be getting back home." Kim said from the edge of the crater. She didn't want to make light of the sudden appearance of Rufus, but their life was waiting for them.

Ron looked back at her and smiled. "Okay Kim. We're coming." He stood and waved to the multitude of naked mole rats around them, and then turned to join Kim. "Come on, buddy."

"No, Ron."

Ron stopped halfway to where Kim stood and slowly turned to face Rufus. "Wha?" he asked as the tiny naked mole rat stepped forward slightly, now holding Eldora's paw in his.

Rufus shook his head. "My home is here now."

"But..." Ron stammered, unable to decide what was weirder; that Rufus was now talking, or that he didn't want to come home. "We're buds..."

"Ron..." Kim said sadly. "I think Rufus means that he's found a family of his own. Just like you did." she smiled, holding out her hand to him.

Ron looked from Rufus to Kim, and back again, not wanting to have to choose. "But... What about the team?" he asked, knowing what choice he would have to make.

Rufus smiled fondly at Ron, then scurried forward, climbed up through his clothes, and gave his friend's face a tight hug. "I have done my part, my friend. You won't need me anymore."

Ron's lip quivered for a moment before he wiped his eyes and reluctantly lowered Rufus to the ground. "I'll make sure to visit, little buddy." he sniffed.

"We'll dig out a place for you." Rufus replied, stepping back beside Eldora. "Take care of him, Kim!" he shouted as well as he could. Kim nodded and waved awkwardly, clearly still not completely comfortable with Rufus's ability to speak.

"Goodbye, Rufus." Ron said, taking a few more hesitant steps away from the crowd of highly evolved rodents and waving. He took Kim's hand and climbed out of the crater. The expression on his face nearly broke her heart as Kim realized how hard this year had been on him. He had lost her twice this year and the vision of the future that he held onto was continuing to gnaw away at him. With tears in her own eyes, she held Ron close, at a loss for what else she could say.

"Come on, Ron. Let's go home." Kim said, wrapping an arm around his waist and walking away into the glowing sunset of the Nairobi skyline.


End file.
